“We have seen that on the whole, the IT median base salary ($80,000) in New Zealand has been stable over the past 6 and 12 months. While the national figure has stayed the same, there has been movement in the regions, with Auckland figures heating significantly,” says Grant Burley, Co-Founder, Absolute IT.

For the first time, Auckland has surpassed Wellington as the highest paying region for IT professionals with an $84,750 median base salary rate. It is also the only region that saw a whopping 38% rise in its median bonus rate, the highest in the country, sitting at $8,250.

“This is not surprising, as employers in Auckland are dealing with a variety of factors that is adding pressure on their budgets when they resource IT talent. They have a workforce that is living in the fourth most expensive city in the world and often compete with other employers for a short supply of certain IT skills. The result is that certain IT candidates with sought-after skills will have a multitude of offers to choose from and employers are responding by paying more and adding benefits and bonuses to sweeten the pot,” says Burley.

Wellington is a bit of a mixed bag. “Wellington had a slight dip (-1%) in its median salary rate, now $84,000, but it is still the most lucrative region for IT contractors in New Zealand at a median rate of $95/hour. The median bonus rate for Wellington is also down to $5,000 (from $6,000 inJuly 2016), but 4% more IT professionals are receiving bonuses in the region.”

Contracting rates in Christchurch has seen consistent growth over the past year and is now on par with Auckland at $83/hour. The median base salary for this region has dropped slightly by 4% from June 2016 and is now at $72,000.

In the Hamilton/BoP region, there has been a 2.5% rise in the median base salary rate, now at $73,250 and the contracting rate has stayed flat. The rise could be linked to the steady increase of interest in the region as an alternative to Auckland.

“While Hamilton/BoP employers can not always compete in price wars for talent, they do find alternative ways to keep and attract talent. IT job seekers in this region get the highest rate of benefits in New Zealand – 72% receive additional benefits to their salary. It comes as no surprise that this is the region that has the highest happiness rating from IT job seekers in New Zealand, as reported last year, only 6% rate their work/life balance as below average.”